Observation/Reflection #1: Starting From the Beginning
During this observation, focus on how class begins. Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? How and when does your CT establish order and begin class? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson?
Observation:
At the beginning of all of Mr. Browne’s classes he has a warm-up on the board for the students to complete. In the tenth grade Biology class that I observed today at North Kingstown High School, the warm-up was to study for the quiz they were about to have. The students knew about the quiz ahead of time, but Mr. Browne was giving them one last chance to review cell scientists, cell structures, and cell functions while he took attendance and finished putting away materials from the previous class’s lab activity. While taking attendance, Mr. Browne reminded the students who were absent the previous class to turn in their homework and schedule a time to come finish the end of the lab they missed. To bring everyone back together, Mr. Browne announces two more minutes of study time and answers some last minute questions as he walks around the classroom before handing out the quiz.
I observed two periods of freshmen Earth Science today in Ms. Parvo’s class. One class was honors and the other class was college prep. For both classes, Ms. Parvo welcomes her students into the classroom and starts checking homework right away. In the honors class, when all the students arrive Ms. Parvo interrupts her homework check and explains the packet she wants her student to read as a resource to help them analyze the data collected from the lab they performed last class. After answering a few questions and clarifying the task, Ms. Parvo resumes her homework check as the students get to work. In the college prep class, which is also the last period of the day, Ms. Parvo does a total class assignment check on two graphs turned in at the end of class they day before. Many students forgot to put their names on their graphs so Ms. Parvo had to go through each pile before beginning her lesson, which linked the graphs and analysis of data to the new lesson. The students were starting a lab activity to tie together all the components of the scientific method/research process that they had been learning about.
Reflection:
Today was a crazy day at NKHS for the students and teacher because of state testing. The schedule was all mixed up and students who were use to having class first period were meeting during the lunch hour, which then changed their lunch, so they were all hungry. In Mr. Browne’s class a few students were coming in late because they forgot about the schedule change, so the warm-up was explained multiple times. Mr. Browne successfully established the idea of doing warm-ups every class period because as soon as the students came in they were looking on the board for questions to answer. Today was different because of the quiz and many students were caught by surprise and chatting over the quiz and what to study. I liked how Mr. Browne was able to take attendance and address students who were absent the class before. He usually gives his class about 10 minutes to do the warm-ups, so Mr. Browne walked around the class, which kept his students on task and allowed them to ask questions. When it was time for the quiz, most of the students responded to Mr. Browne’s request to put everything away and stop talking, which made the transition from warm-up to lesson pretty smooth.
In Ms. Parvo’s honors class, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the students prepared for class and then worked while homework was being checked. As soon as they came in the room, the students all took out their homework and waited for the next direction. Ms. Parvo’s method of starting homework check, explaining the next task, and then going back to checking homework works well in this class. In her college prep class, however, Ms. Parvo needs to address the class as a whole and settle everyone down before beginning homework checking or starting the lesson. She says they are a very energetic group of kids, but mostly because they have her class everyday last period. Once the class began, most students settled down and got to work. I found it very beneficial to see how Ms. Parvo handled her two classes differently, adjusting her methods for the students.
Observation/Reflection #1: Starting From the Beginning
During this observation, focus on how class begins. Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? How and when does your CT establish order and begin class? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson?Observation:
At the beginning of all of Mr. Browne’s classes he has a warm-up on the board for the students to complete. In the tenth grade Biology class that I observed today at North Kingstown High School, the warm-up was to study for the quiz they were about to have. The students knew about the quiz ahead of time, but Mr. Browne was giving them one last chance to review cell scientists, cell structures, and cell functions while he took attendance and finished putting away materials from the previous class’s lab activity. While taking attendance, Mr. Browne reminded the students who were absent the previous class to turn in their homework and schedule a time to come finish the end of the lab they missed. To bring everyone back together, Mr. Browne announces two more minutes of study time and answers some last minute questions as he walks around the classroom before handing out the quiz.
I observed two periods of freshmen Earth Science today in Ms. Parvo’s class. One class was honors and the other class was college prep. For both classes, Ms. Parvo welcomes her students into the classroom and starts checking homework right away. In the honors class, when all the students arrive Ms. Parvo interrupts her homework check and explains the packet she wants her student to read as a resource to help them analyze the data collected from the lab they performed last class. After answering a few questions and clarifying the task, Ms. Parvo resumes her homework check as the students get to work. In the college prep class, which is also the last period of the day, Ms. Parvo does a total class assignment check on two graphs turned in at the end of class they day before. Many students forgot to put their names on their graphs so Ms. Parvo had to go through each pile before beginning her lesson, which linked the graphs and analysis of data to the new lesson. The students were starting a lab activity to tie together all the components of the scientific method/research process that they had been learning about.
Reflection:
Today was a crazy day at NKHS for the students and teacher because of state testing. The schedule was all mixed up and students who were use to having class first period were meeting during the lunch hour, which then changed their lunch, so they were all hungry. In Mr. Browne’s class a few students were coming in late because they forgot about the schedule change, so the warm-up was explained multiple times. Mr. Browne successfully established the idea of doing warm-ups every class period because as soon as the students came in they were looking on the board for questions to answer. Today was different because of the quiz and many students were caught by surprise and chatting over the quiz and what to study. I liked how Mr. Browne was able to take attendance and address students who were absent the class before. He usually gives his class about 10 minutes to do the warm-ups, so Mr. Browne walked around the class, which kept his students on task and allowed them to ask questions. When it was time for the quiz, most of the students responded to Mr. Browne’s request to put everything away and stop talking, which made the transition from warm-up to lesson pretty smooth.
In Ms. Parvo’s honors class, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the students prepared for class and then worked while homework was being checked. As soon as they came in the room, the students all took out their homework and waited for the next direction. Ms. Parvo’s method of starting homework check, explaining the next task, and then going back to checking homework works well in this class. In her college prep class, however, Ms. Parvo needs to address the class as a whole and settle everyone down before beginning homework checking or starting the lesson. She says they are a very energetic group of kids, but mostly because they have her class everyday last period. Once the class began, most students settled down and got to work. I found it very beneficial to see how Ms. Parvo handled her two classes differently, adjusting her methods for the students.